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YOUR PRIVACY FOR SALE. Congress has approved—and President Trump is poised to sign—a plan that would give internet providers power to sell your browsing records without your permission.

… which is why you might want to check into getting your own VPN—a virtual private network.
Sun-Times editorial: Illinois lawmakers should impose statewide privacy protections (Image: RRZEicons.)

‘THE PRESIDENT’S BUDGET … WOULD CUT JOBS, DECREASE SERVICE, MAKE COMMUTES LONGER.’ That’s the warning from the CTA about a spending plan that could also kill the fabled City of New Orleans train service out of Chicago.
10 Obama environmental policies Trump would scrap.

‘THE ADMINISTRATION IS GOING TO WORK WITH US — ESPECIALLY GUN VIOLENCE IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO.’ That’s police union chief Dean Angelo after his meeting with the president at the White House yesterday.
 How Trump’s views on Chicago have evolved through the years.
 Developing: In Washington this morning, a person tried to ram a police cruiser on the U.S. Capitol grounds; police report shots fired and one person in custody.
 Tribune editorial: Bike law enforcement in Chicago is racially unfair.
 Burglars have been caught on video smashing and grabbing cash and bras from a Bucktown lingerie store.

‘A GIGANTIC, PARTISAN MESS.’ BuzzFeed says members of both parties are questioning whether the House Intelligence Committee can fairly untangle the Trump/Russia 2016 election web, given a chairman The New York Times’ Frank Bruni says “is so deep in the tank for Trump that he needs scuba gear.”
The Sun-Times: Committee chief Devin Nunes begs to be investigated.
ABC lists the things we don’t know about Nunes’ curious White House visit.
Stephen Colbert illustrates Nunes’ conflicts of interest.
National Journal analysis: Demo­crats have a shot at re­tak­ing the House in 2018.

WHEN IS @REALDONALDTRUMP REALLY DONALD TRUMP? Computer analysis can help determine if those truly are the president’s fingers on the phone.
 Trump’s company is going for a second D.C. hotel.
Speaking of the president’s fingers: A former “Apprentice” contestant’s claim that the president groped her in 2007 may be headed to the Supreme Court.
Press Secretary Sean Spicer says the whole White House staff will skip the White House Correspondents Dinner next month.

FOLLOW THE MONEY. IF YOU CAN. AND YOU PROBABLY CAN’T (YET).
A Tribune investigation finds taxpayers have funded millions of dollars in bonuses to employees of the company running the struggling Illinois Lottery—but it won’t identify them.
Chicago’s inspector general says the city’s unable to account for millions of dollars to subsidize rent for the poor.
Chicago area lands 11 towns on Bloomberg’s list of America’s 100 richest places

LIVE FROM CITY HALL. The Chicago City Council is meeting this morning. See the festivities live online here. [Update, 12:14 p.m.: The video stream was not working. The City Clerk's office has been working on the problem.] See details here.
On the menu: New parking restrictions in the West Loop and a plan to let underage clerks sell alcohol at restaurants and supermarkets.

YA GOTTA WATCH OUT FOR THOSE JUNIOR STAFFERS. Lawyers for former Illinois U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock say federal investigators improperly used a “fairly junior staffer” in Schock’s office to record Schock secretly.
Illinois congressmen split along party lines on whether to force Trump to release his tax returns.

APPLE’S NEW CHICAGO STORE. In an exclusive look at updated plans for the building taking shape at Michigan Avenue near the riverwalk, the Tribune sees “a high-tech version of Frank Lloyd Wright’s quintessentially Midwestern Prairie Style homes.”
Once again, Apple’s yanked an app that tracks fatal U.S. drone strikes.
 Samsung unveils the Galaxy S8 (a.k.a., “We don’t think this one will explode”).

‘LYFT IS SLIGHTLY BETTER THAN UBER.’ The Guardian takes a critical look at the differences between two ride-sharing companies.
Bloomberg: Uber’s diversity report leaves out the most important thing.

KNOCKIN’ ON NOBEL’S DOOR. Bob Dylan has finally agreed to accept his Nobel Prize in person this weekend. (Image: Alberto Cabello from Vitoria Gasteiz.)

HAVE A COW. The U.S. meat industry is asking the president to press China to end its mad cow disease-based ban on U.S. beef.
From 20 years ago this week: A gripping radio interview Pulitzer winner Richard Rhodes granted me about his then-new book Deadly Feasts, documenting mad cow disease’s rise.

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